EL SEGUNDO, CA — Following the 2009-10 season, the Los Angeles Kings lost defensemen Sean O’Donnell, Randy Jones and later in the summer, Matt Greene.

While O’Donnell and Jones signed with the Philadelphia Flyers and the Tampa Bay Lightning, respectively, Greene underwent shoulder surgery is expected to miss the first month of the 2010-11 season, at least.

That left the Kings undermanned on the blue line, but, even with Greene out of the lineup, the Kings defenseman corps looks to be better than last year’s model.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: In part 2 of a series of stories based on an interview with Los Angeles Kings head coach Terry Murray, we look at the Kings’ defense and goaltending as their 2010 training camp approaches. Look for the third and final installment of this series on Thursday, September 9.

LOS ANGELES — After two solid performances against Nashville and Vancouver, the Los Angeles Kings lost much of the mental edge they gained they displayed in those two games in a sloppy, 2-1 shootout loss to the Anaheim Ducks at Staples Center on April 3.

Jack Johnson scored on the power play at 19:40 of the first period, but that would be one of the few high-quality scoring chances by the Kings.

After a scoreless second period, Ducks forward Saku Koivu tied the game at 18:28 of the third period, with Ducks goalie Curtis McElhinny on the bench for the extra attacker.

The game went into a shootout, with the Kings shooters doing little to challenge McElhinny, who easily stopped Anze Kopitar, Johnson and Dustin Brown.

Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick put in a strong performance and in the shootout, he stopped Ducks forwards Teemu Selanne and Corey Perry, only to be beaten by Koivu in the third round, giving the Ducks the victory.

In many games over the past six weeks, effort, intensity and urgency were the biggest problems for the Kings. This time, they simply did not play a smart game. Read more of this post

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